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Wild Roots to open soon in Northampton

Date: 4/11/2023

NORTHAMPTON — Wild Roots, the organic café/eatery making waves in Sunderland and Greenfield, is now on the cusp of adding a third location in Northampton by a tentative date later this spring.

According to a social media post, Wild Roots is bringing its fresh and organic food and drinks to the Northampton Athletic Club on 306 King St.

The eatery is taking over the spot where the Tandem Bagel Company was after Tandem announced they were moving their Northampton location to the city’s Stop & Shop plaza.

“We’ve been culminating to this moment of coming to Northampton,” said Luke Eriksen, the owner of the café with his wife, Kelli.

With the new Northampton spot, Wild Roots now has three locations in three different cities. Eriksen’s wife and his wife’s mother, Sandi Waskewic, opened the first location on 11 Bridge St. in Sunderland back in 2017, and then Luke and Kelli Eriksen opened the second location at 201 Main St. in Greenfield after Antonio’s Pizza and Grinders closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Eriksen said the space inside in Northampton will “look and feel different.”

“We’ve just organically been growing,” said Luke Eriksen, of the past six years. “We are thrilled to go in and reinvent another space.”

Eriksen said they and the Northampton Athletic Club are a “match made in heaven” since Wild Roots has always been about providing organic and non-GMO food. The eatery offers a wide range of breakfasts, pressed sandwiches, salads and smoothies including burritos, breakfast bowls and sandwiches named after Western Mass. towns and cities.

“To me, Northampton Athletic Club is the premier spot,” said Luke Eriksen. “I couldn’t be more thrilled to coexist with them…we care about health and we care about meeting people’s dietary needs.”

The menu for the most part will stay consistent with the other two locations, but Luke Eriksen said he is excited to bring vegan and other organic options to a city that has a reputation for their health-conscious options.

As Wild Roots gets settled into its Northampton location, Luke Eriksen said there is a possibility more Northampton-specific items will be added to the menu, or they may be inspired to add something special to all three of their locations. The sky is the limit for a business that once started with eight sandwiches and now offers 22.

“We’ve had everything from our own ideas for new items to customer-inspired ideas for new items, so we’re a very agile and active-listening business,” Luke Eriksen said. “We prioritize our customers and we’re really curious where they want to see Wild Roots go.”

Readers can check out the Wild Roots menu on their website: http://wildrootseatery.com/. Currently, they are open 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and they are projected to be open 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Northampton location at 306 King St..

Readers can also visit their Facebook page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/wildrootseatery.